A Samurai's Tome of Extraterrestrial Terror
Community Rating
Description
(This is a Stray Cat Strut fan fiction, you don't need to read that first but I recommend it)Read the original here!
Ness doesn't want much from life. Working as a delivery driver for a farming town in Michigan isn't exactly fun or rewarding as far as careers go, they could also use a less sleepless nights. Bosses are what you would expect when you're under an indentured servant contract. At least they're cheap enough that the town won't fire them or repair the old barely functional van they're forced to call home.
But they can still make time for retro tabletop roleplaying games with friends and family. Nothing to bring people together like escapism! And everyone needs an escape every now and then.
The town of Traverse couldn't escape the plant aliens when they came knocking though, so its up to a caffeine addicted nerd with insomnia to save the day with some help from the less murderous alien allies. With an arsenal of tech so advanced it might as well be magic, they just might survive their first quest.
Information
- Status
- Hiatus
- Year
- 2024
- Author
- DankDuck
Royal Road Stats
- Rating
- 4.8/ 5.0
- Followers
- 169
- Views
- 9,992
Chapters(7 total)
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!
Community Reviews(2)
- furball tigerRoyal Road★★★★★ 4.5TLDR: an interesting variant on the SCS world, worth a try
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This one is a bit different, and I don't want to spoil too much except that while somethings take awhile to become clear there are some consistent themes and characterizations that takes things in interesting and unusual directions.
As someone who used to play TTRPG long, LOOONG ago it probably pushes more buttons than for someone unfamiliar w/ such things (idk, it's hard for me to estimate how well this schtick would work for that perspective).
It could use a teeny bit of editorial cleanup but overall is clear and easy to follow.
The MC is grouchy enough to be a little off-putting to me, at least initially, but they've apparently had a crap-sack life (in a corp dystopia now being invaded by hungry plant monsters no less!) so...it at least makes sense! Overall, i think characterization is likely to be one of the strong points of this one.
If you like SCS stories, give it a try, but you should expect to be a little patient at first as the author is being a little coy and reveals are slow. Overall, tho, it's entertaining. - Read Write accessRoyal Road★★★★ 4.0This new author does what all the best SCS fanfic does: project a worldview the author knows onto the framework provided by SCS. It works well because generally the protagonist is less than thrilled with the theme imposed by the Protector AI.
In this case he is a role-play gamer, and his understanding of concepts like party build and associated tactics are immediately applicable and effective. I agree with the author, this sort of person would likely adapt fast and be a very effective Vanguard, knowing both strategy and tactics of group combat, and having familiarity dealing with needs of the present versus needs of the future.
Flaws are primarily grammatical and stylistic. For example, number agreement of pronouns. "They" can be used in speech which is frequently grammatically imprecise, or for indeterminate number, but is inappropriate for an individual regardless of gender because individuals are always singular. The stylistic problem is a strong tendency to explain rather than show using events.
Characters are believable, and the protagonist is both sometimes annoying and eerily reminiscent of someone I actually know. Several people I know. He is inclined to put his family first, cynical but open to new things, and probably amused that all that time "wasted playing games" was actually officer training.
A fine first effort. One to watch.